The present invention relates generally to a lacrosse head for attachment to a lacrosse stick, and more particularly to a lacrosse head having increased strength without substantially increasing the weight of the lacrosse head.
Lacrosse heads are used in the game of lacrosse for catching, holding and shooting a lacrosse ball. Most current lacrosse heads are manufactured using plastic injection molding processes, and are secured to a lacrosse handle. A typical lacrosse head includes a throat that is connected to a lacrosse handle, a base adjacent the throat and including a ball stop, a pair of opposing sidewalls that generally diverge from the base, and a scoop that joins the ends of the opposing sidewalls opposite the base. Lacrosse heads also typically include netting attached to the rear side of the base, the sidewalls and the scoop. This netting ordinarily is used to retain a lacrosse ball in the lacrosse head.
The sidewalls of current lacrosse heads typically have an open sidewall construction that includes many openings formed in the sidewalls. This open-frame construction decreases the amount of material used to form the sidewalls and thus the head, thereby decreasing the overall manufacturing and material costs for the head.
One proposed solution to this structural weaknesses provides stiffening ribs integrally formed in the head and extending from the socket or the base on toward the scoop. The stiffening ribs typically are located above and below the sidewall openings to provide structural support. The stiffening ribs usually are thicker than the main portion of the sidewalls to increase the structural integrity of the sidewalls. In such a construction, the lacrosse head is constructed from plastic with the stiffening ribs integrally molded as part of the head during a single molding process. Unfortunately, however, the stiffening ribs may not be sufficiently strong to prevent deformation or breakage of the lacrosse head. Such ribs also can add too much material, and thus weight, to the lacrosse head, thereby yielding an undesirably heavy lacrosse head.